What to Know About COVID-19 Safety and Outdoor Sports

What to Know About COVID-19 Safety and Outdoor Sports

Anyone who has been to Mammoth Lakes knows that spending time outside in the Eastern Sierra is the perfect escape, especially from the current conditions in the world. 

Fortunately, crisp mountain air and wide open spaces provided by the great outdoors and Mother Nature are ideal for participating in outdoor sports like hiking, skiing, snowboarding, and other fun activities, but that doesn’t mean you can throw caution to the wind. 

Being COVID cautious is more important than ever due to the rise in the Delta variant. To help clear the air on COVID-19 and outdoor sports, the ASO Mammoth team has put together a basic guide on how to avoid spreading or contracting the virus while adventuring outside. Keep reading to start your research ahead of your next outdoor trip!

Don’t Go if You Know You Have Symptoms

One of the things that has allowed COVID-19 to spread as far as it has is the fact that people with no symptoms can carry and spread it. That alone makes participating in outdoor sports around others dangerous, but it is especially important to remember since the Delta variant is even more contagious. 

If you know you have symptoms, then isolate yourself to prevent potentially spreading the virus. We promise that once you have either tested negative or not shown symptoms for the CDC recommended number of days the trail, mountain, lake, or whatever you wanted to visit will still be waiting for you!

Don’t Share Gear

One of the best parts of getting outside is the community of people who bond over their love of nature and support each other as they pursue different outdoor sports. Pre-pandemic, that meant sharing hiking poles, clothes, and even water bottles. Now though, those behaviors could cause COVID-19 to spread amongst the communities we love. Until we have COVID under control, refrain from sharing gear with anyone except those who you live with unless absolutely necessary. 

Only Travel with People From your Household

We all love to adventure into the wilderness, and even more so when we’re doing it with our close friends and family. Unfortunately, travelling in confined spaces with little ventilation like a car makes catching COVID-19 extremely easy if someone in the car is infected. As much as we’re missing road trips right now, it’s recommended to not travel by car with people outside of your household if possible. If you do carpool, then lessen the chances that you’ll catch the virus by wearing masks and finding a way to circulate the air by either opening a window or setting the car’s air-conditioning to not re-circulate the air in the vehicle. 

Be Careful Inside Facilities Near Your Destination

We love Mammoth Lakes more than anyone else, but COVID is not under control to the point where we can celebrate the town in our favorite bars, restaurants, and shops like we did before. Even though skiing and snowboarding at Mammoth Mountain is relatively safe, spending time inside is still risky if you do not follow COVID safety procedures like social distancing and wearing a mask. It is especially dangerous in a ski town like Mammoth Lakes where there is a large population of visitors from all over the Western United States and beyond.  Don’t bring your outdoor behaviors inside. Wear a mask, wash your hands often, and avoid crowds. 

Don’t forget, getting a COVID-19 vaccine is the best protection from COVID-19 and its Delta variant, so if you’ve not already gotten the vaccine then now is the time to protect yourself and those around you!

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